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Topic: Fuel leak! (!!!) (Read 3562 times)

The weld has held. Just put 3.6 gal in the tank with no leakage. Getting on the road.

Regarding the chain - it's a new chain and sprocket set installed by my RE dealer after I stripped the last one. I'll have them look at the sprocket. I don't know what the sprocket looks like new, so I can't tell whether what I'm seeing on the teeth is wear or their natural shape. Regardless, I gotta ride home. Chain slack is roughly within tolerance (this isn't brain surgery, if it's so finicky that you have to measure and adjust before every ride, the bike is useless as practical transportation, and we empirically know that's not the case).

My shifting problem is: bike has trouble with 4th gear. Can't downshift into 4th (have to bypass it); when up shifting, it won't engage properly (grinds) unless I exert upward foot pressure on the lever while it's in 4th. 5th is fine. Not a chain problem as I originally thought.

Checked the bike just now, 6 hours after I got home. There's a tiny bit of fuel seepage in the same area (a drop or two an hour), so little that I can't tell if its from the area I JB Welded or an adjacent spot. Hopefully it won't get any worse and I can take the tank off over the weekend and JB Weld the rest of the seam, and that will solve it.

Tank has only about half a gallon in it (I ran it down on purpose) so I took it into my (shared) garage and left it indoors anyway.

Damn Rich! You can't win for losing! Sorry you're having such bad luck with the RE. Maybe it's just your bikes way of telling you "Hey, I got a few more issues we need to work out. Then I'll be ready to see the world!" After all, these bikes do have more character than a politician.

I'm not complaining, or at least I'm trying not to. My 2 bikes, the RE and the SYM Symba (basically a Honda Cub), have been great bikes to learn about maintenance and repair on. They're both mechanically simple and easily comprehensible.

I came in 8 months ago knowing nothing, and in that time I've changed oil, adjusted chains, diagnosed and fixed a nasty electrical problem, and patched a gas tank. I now think nothing about taking off a wheel or tank, which is remarkable when I think about it.